On: Girl, 8, pulls a 1,500-year-old sword from a lake ...

[msiggy]

Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.

[jackconnor → msiggy]

Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

[norvig → jackconnor]

I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away!

[jackconnor → norvig]

"Moistened bint", haha. This quote reminds me just how funny their wordplay and use of language was.

[8bitsrule → norvig]

And here, all these years, I was hearing "moistened bink". Makes more sense now.

(Surely Python deserves some kind of Silly Award for widely distributing UK slang.)

[escherplex → norvig]

...That depends on the time and the place.

[fao_ → escherplex]

> you paraphrased that from a quote in the urban dictionary (funny line)

No, it's a quote from Monty Python.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/quotes/qt0470593

[escherplex → fao_]

Oh, that was the third DDG reference. Still a funny line.

[ljm → jackconnor]

The story of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone is lost on many in this thread.

[thaumasiotes → ljm]

The sword in the stone really isn't the right story here; you want Arthur receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake.

[ryandrake → thaumasiotes]

...her arm clad in the purest shimmering silmite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water...

(Couldn’t resist)

[gumby → ryandrake]

Honestly as I kid I thought that she would be clad in slime -- but I still would eagerly have grabbed the cutlery.

[qohen → ryandrake]

s/silmite/samite

Per Wikipedia[0]:

Samite was a luxurious and heavy silk fabric worn in the Middle Ages, of a twill-type weave, often including gold or silver thread.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samite

[xamlhacker → ljm]

So is the Monty Python reference.

[jacobmoe → xamlhacker]

Oh, now we see the violence inherent in the system.

[theoh → jacobmoe]

Anonymous downvoting is the violence of HN (and it's probably a lot more antisocial than we admit). Politely pointing out errors is... well, it's something else. Probably at least OK. Sorry I don't have a Monty Python line for this comment.

[kwhitefoot → theoh]

> probably a lot more antisocial than we admit).

More like definitely. What function does downvoting really perform anyway? And what function is it supposed to perform? I see lots of perfectly reasonable comments going grey with no explanation at all.

[anon49124 → theoh]

Yes, sigh. Cyberdisinhibitionism: accountability and boundaries are reduced, lack of impact seen for committing such repressive acts leads to it.

Next on front-page HN:

How sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes

[anon49124 → jacobmoe]

Help, help, I'm being repressed!

[ljm → xamlhacker]

Touché :)

[bdz → msiggy]

https://old.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/4k83qf/cmvstr...

[Yetanfou → msiggy]

Now where did that quote come from again? Ah, yes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sprrQ1OLW6g

[anon49124 → msiggy]

Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.